Women's Lacrosse Team to Be Fielded by 2012

Quick Facts

President Anthony DiGiorgio said a new coach would be hired next spring and a team assembled to play by spring 2012. Lacrosse is gaining popularity in the South as other nearby universities have added the sport.

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop University Board of Trustee members voted Nov. 5 to add a women’s lacrosse team to its Division I program.

President Anthony DiGiorgio said a new coach would be hired next spring and a team assembled to play by spring 2012. “We’ve heard on our recruiting trips in the Northeast that this is a sport that high school students would like to participate,” said DiGiorgio. “Female lacrosse players nationwide have among the highest academic success rates. These athletes would like to continue playing at college, and they want to play at a good school.”

Winthrop added women’s soccer in 2003 because of a similar trend.

Lacrosse is gaining popularity in the South as other nearby universities have added the sport. Athletics Director Tom Hickman said the addition of women’s lacrosse at Winthrop would create increased opportunities for women’s participation in intercollegiate scholarship sports as defined in Title IX.